A Way to Make Her Cry
by Presea Combatir
Summary: [Oneshot][SasuSaku] Way to go, Sasuke. No matter where you are, you always find a way to make her cry.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
Warning: Possibility of slight OOCness. **

**A Way to Make Her Cry  
**_By Presea Combatir _

Sakura walked silently down the streets of Konoha, a straw basket hanging off her right arm. It had been six years since Sasuke's betrayal against the village and fewer since he disappeared from Sound. She could not remember how many long it had been since her lips curved into a true, genuine smile or how long it had been since she laughed without choking back a sob.

The Cherry Blossom of Konoha had disappeared along with the Uchiha.

Drowning herself in Tsunade's teachings, she had managed to forget about him… temporally, at lest. Even though Naruto's love interest had moved to Hinita, he could not deny that Sakura was worrying him. Naruto and Kakashi had become more protective and worried about the eighteen-year-old medical ninja, and always seemed to keep an eye out for her.

Sakura stopped and gazed at the midnight blanket that covered the sky.

"Sakura?" She heard a voice question.

She looked up to find Naruto standing a few feet away, his face shown with both concern and puzzlement. "What're you doing out so late?" He approached the pink haired woman.

Sakura's, now long, hair just brushed her pale shoulders. Ageing had done the ninja girl well, her body matured and soft curves developed along her thin waist. Her face had changed; making her once childlike cuteness become womanly beauty. Even despite the look of hopelessness in her jade eyes, many men pursued her, attempting to win her heart. Sakura had refused every attempt.

No matter what she did, her heart was still completely devoted to Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto gently placed a hand on Sakura's tense shoulder. She flinched slightly at his touch. He frowned, "Sakura-chan, how about I walk you home?"

She forced a gentle smile, thankful for Naruto's concern. "That's all right, Naruto. I'm not going home right away."

His eyes darkened. "Where are you going at this time of night?" He looked down at Sakura. Naruto had grown a good couple of inches and now was a head taller than Sakura. His blue eyes looked at her with brotherly concern.

"To the Uchiha Mansion."

Naruto froze at the young woman's reply. Sakura simply looked at him with unwavering green eyes. He sighed, "Sakura-chan. You can't keep doing this." His voice was stern but was lined with worry. "Sasuke left. He's not coming back. You have to try to forget about him." It pained Naruto to say it, but in his heart, he knew it was true. Sakura would end up destroying herself by waiting so long for him.

Time froze for what seemed like hours before being broken by an earth shattering snap.

Naruto stood in wonder, a hand cupping his right cheek that had just taken a hit from one of Sakura's skilled hands. He watched her retreating figure as she fled down the street towards the Uchiha mansion.

"Way to go, Sasuke." Naruto whispered bitterly, "No matter where you are, you always find a way to make her cry."

… … … … … … … … … … …

Sakura threw open the ornate door to the mansion, carefully shutting it behind her, remembering that this was not her home. After slipping off her shoes, she threw her basket down and walked through the large empty house.

Her footsteps echoed down the hallway, reminding her how empty and lonely the house was. She pulled her red jacket closer around her body, over her black shirt and jeans.

Fresh salty tears streamed down her rosy cheeks before she quickly brushed them away.

_'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' _She mentally cursed at herself for crying so much, even all these years later. She unconsciously threw her foot foreword, accidentally kicking her basket across the floor, spilling the contents.

Her eyes widened and new tears spilled down her face. In one motion, she swept down and pulled the photo album she had been carrying to her chest in a desperate hug.

She knew every page of the book like the back of her hand. It showed Team 7 in its innocence. Right after they graduated the academy and were assigned Kakashi as their teacher. However, most importantly, it contained the only pictures she had of Sasuke.

All of the pictures that had Sasuke in them, he was either scowling or no paying attention to the camera, but Sakura loved each one all the same.

She took the book with her as she walked silently to the master bedroom of the mansion. She knew it was wrong for her to invade the space where Sasuke's parents used to stay, and she knew she should not be in his home but this was one of the few things that made her content.

Every week she went to the Uchiha's home and cleaned it just incase, for some reason, Sasuke decided to come home.

Sakura lay on the bed found in the room and closed her eyes, clutching the book to her. The silence was deafening, and moments later, Sakura fell into a restless sleep.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Sakura finally woke hours later. She guessed it was at lest midnight. Just as she was getting ready to push herself up off the bed, a strange feeling swept over her. She realized than that she was not in the room alone. With a swift turn of her head, she found herself staring at the profile of none of than Uchiha Sasuke.

Her heart swelled to an uncomfortable size in her chest as she stared at the raven-haired man.

_'Is this another dream?' _Sakura questioned herself as she brushed a hand across her cheek. No. She was defenitaly awake.

Not trusting herself to say anything, she simply watched Sasuke. He was even more handsome than she remembered. He had grown taller, as tall as or taller than Naruto, which meant that he dwarfed Sakura. She could see well-toned muscles under his shirt. His face, although very handsome, looked also very tired and worn.

It seemed it was just than that Sasuke had noticed that the other occupant in the room had woken. He looked over, his black orbs gazing into her jade ones.

Sakura tried her best to restrain herself from jumping up and latching onto the Uchiha and settled for a soft whisper. "Sasuke…."

He finally broke eye contact and looked back at a book in his lap. Sakura recognized it was her photo album. "I'm surprised you kept most of these pictures." Sasuke said his voice much deeper.

Still in slight shock, it took Sakura a moment to register that Sasuke was talking to her. When she did not answer, Sasuke set the book down and sat next to her on the bed.

He looked at her face and frowned, seeing the long red marks from her tears, running down her cheeks. Without a second thought, Sasuke brought a thumb up to her cheek and brushed away a newly fallen tear.

In the blink of an eye, Sakura threw her arms around Sasuke's neck and buried her face in his broad chest. She was well aware that he was probably going to push her away, spit out some insult and leave; she tightened her grip on him without realizing it.

Surprisingly, Sasuke did the opposite of pushing her away. He hesitated, but eventually wrapped a strong arm around her waist.

When Sakura's loud, cries finally softened into short sobs she whispered, "Sasuke… why'd you leave?" She asked desperately, needing to know the answer for his betrayal. "Was I s-something I did?" More tears spilled from her eyes.

"No." Sasuke's voice came. "It wasn't you."

"Than why?"

Sasuke did not answer this right away. She looked up at him and saw him staring into the distance, an emotionless mask covering his face.

"Sasuke?" She questioned.

He looked down at her, his eyes lingering for a moment where her hands moved to clutch his shirt. "Are you still with Sound?"

"No."

"Than why won't you come home?"

Sasuke did not know how to answer this question. It puzzled him as well. Was it because he feared the punishment the Hokage would give him? No. Sasuke did not fear death. He clutched Sakura a little tighter to him when he finally realized the answer. "I was afraid to face you…" He said, barely above a whisper.

Sakura looked at him with wide eyes. Her heart gave a jolting thump in her ribs. _'Face….me?' _She thought with wonder.

He avoided her gaze when she tried desperately to see his face. She finally reached her hand up to his cheek and gently pushed his face in her direction.

What she found on his face made her heart break. The strong Uchiha's face was full of mixed emotions. She saw sadness, anger, confusion, and, what astonished her most, a small trace of love.

"Why…?" She questioned. Sasuke bended his pride to show Sakura this side of him. She wanted to help him with all her heart, but she needed to know what was wrong.

Sasuke avoided her gaze again and look out the window. He closed his eyes and Sakura thought that he was just going to brush off the subject. She sighed and looked at the ground.

"Itachi is dead." Sasuke said.

Her eye widened at the completely off topic comment. "wha…?"

"Itachi is dead." He repeated steadily. "And I don't feel any better."

Sakura frowned as she gazed at Sasuke face and bit back an immature comment saying something like 'told you so.'

"You were right all along."

"You never answered me. Why won't you come home? Why don't you want to see me?" Sakura asked again, she was not going to let him slither out of the answers to these questions.

Sasuke sighed. "Do you know what it's like looking someone in the face who has so much faith in you and when you've done nothing to deserve it?"

Sakura was confused now. "What are you talking about?"

His grip on Sakura tightened more. Sasuke mentally cursed at himself for saying so much. He only came to Konoha to get something he left behind in the mansion and he ends up spilling feelings that he fought so hard to cover, to the one person he probably disappointed the most.

She apparently saw the distress on the Uchiha's face because she brushed some hair out of his face, bringing him back to reality. "I really missed you." She whispered.

Sasuke noticed she was fighting to stay awake. He did not blame her, it was late and she was crying for quite some time. He held her in his embrace until she feel asleep, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I love you Sakura." He whispered when she finally fell asleep. "Now why can't I tell you that to your face?"


End file.
